VF tires ensure healthier crops and higher profitability

JANUARY 20TH

The Danish farming research company SEGES has finished a tire experiment in collaboration with the NDI Group and Alliance. The results show that VF tires can ensure farmers increased profits of up to 3200 Euros per 100 hectars, as lower tire pressure means healthier crops and higher yield.

In April 2021, the farming research company SEGES and NDI Group started a scientific tire test to assess the benefits of using VF tires. During the experiment, the companies tested a tractor and manure spreader with two different tire fittings – conventional tires with a pressure of between 2,2 and 3 bar and VF tires from Alliance with a tire pressure of 1 bar. The experiment was done on a cornfield with a rough clay-mixed sandy soil (in Denmark categorized as a “JB3” soil according to the Danish soil categorization system).

- There have been several tire experiments conducted outside Denmark that show that driving with a low tire pressure increases yield and thereby the profit per hectar. This is the first time we have had an experiment of this kind done on Danish soil, and the results are very positive, says Jakob Nannberg Scheel, sales manager in the agricultural department of the NDI Group.

Noticeable savings
The results from the tire experiment show that it is possible to increase the yield of between 1,5 and 2,2 percent depending on if the slurry injector has a width of 8 or 12 rows.

- Now, we got an insight into scientifically validated data that has given us an unprecedented opportunity to calculate the increased earnings VF tires can create. Based on the data from SEGES, we have calculated an increase of earnings of 21.8 and 32 Euros per hectar depending on the width of the slurry injector, says Jakob Nannberg Scheel and continues:

- If you have a 100-hectar field, you will achieve savings of several thousand euros. Moreover, the experiment showed that VF tires reduced wheel slip by 4,4 percent, which will undoubtedly lead to fuels savings and lower tire pressure reduces the soil compaction. So now we finally have data that proved the economic benefits of using VF tires, and we look very much forward to using them in the counseling of our customers.

Greater potential yields
According to Henning Sjørslev Lyngvig, a consultant within the area of field technology at SEGES, and who together with consultant Martin Mikkelsen is responsible for the experiment, the benefits of using VF tires are possible even bigger than the ones seen in the tire trial.

- When we injected manure in April 2021, the soil was very arid, and it gave us excellent driving conditions. The potential can likely be even more significant under suboptimal conditions. You could easily imagine that there are even bigger benefits by driving in wetter soil, he says.

The NDI Group is the Nordic distributor of the tire brand Alliance, part of the Yokohama Off-Highway Tires. In the experiment, the 372+ and 389+ Agriflex tires were used on the tractor and slurry tanker, respectively.